The prosecution claims the banker sold the F1 stake to CVC at an undervalued
price of €840m, rather than choosing the right buyer with better potential
returns for the German bank. They allege this was done in exchange for a
$44m bribe, which also resulted in a $41.4m payment to Mr Ecclestone from BayernLB.
Mr Ecclestone has denied this was a kickback to allow him to pay the alleged
bribe to Mr Gribkowsky without it all coming from his own pocket.
The F1 boss claims the money was paid partly as a 5pc commission fee and
partly as a loan repayment his family trust had made to F1.
Mr Ecclestone previously told The Daily Telegraph: “I didn’t tell
him that he must sell to CVC . . . How can I say
to him that he must do something?”
“The only thing I said [to Gribkowsky] is if I sell the shares I want
commission. Whoever you sell to, I don’t care who you sell to.”
Mr Ecclestone is also facing a civil lawsuit about his involvement in the 2006
sale of F1 to CVC.